Borrowed Time
by Rayven
Summary: Gimli is dying, but can Legolas cope with the concept of death? One-shot. Mild slash and character death.


Borrowed Time

Disclaimer: J.R.R Tolkien owns all characters and places mentioned. I just wrote this story!  
  
Mild slash & Character death  
  
_Valinor_  
  
Legolas sat by Gimli's bed, trying to hold back tears. He knew that mortals didn't live long, but Gimli was only five hundred! That was so young, at least to an elf. The dwarf had been his stalwart companion for over three hundred years, and Legolas knew it would have to end someday, but forced himself to believe that Gimli would live forever.  
  
Earlier that day, he had been out walking with his best friend along the shores of Valinor. The dwarf's lustrous beard was now iron grey, but he was as healthy as ever.  
  
They glided over the silvery sand and took in the beauty of the azure sea, a flock of brightly coloured birds flying above them into the cloudless sky.  
  
Gimli opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. He didn't want to spoil Legolas' fun, but this secret had been gnawing on his mind for a long while, and now he had precious little time left.  
  
Legolas noticed his friend's sorrowful gaze, and stopped. He knew this meant something awful, but he was afraid to ask.  
  
"Legolas...I have something to tell you."  
  
It was at that moment that Legolas' world came crashing down around him.

Legolas opened his eyes, noticing that Gimli's heartbeat had faltered, his breathing becoming more rapid.  
  
"Lord Elrond!"  
  
The elf tried to speak, but he found he was unable too.  
  
"Have you read much of dwarf lore, Legolas?"  
  
He nodded, his face paling as he began to grasp what the younger creature was saying.  
  
"I don't quite know how to tell you this, but..." His voice strengthened. "When a dwarf reaches five hundred years of age, the spark goes out."  
  
"Spark?" Legolas asked, his voice childishly small.  
  
"Legolas, I...today I will die."  
  
"Child, I fear he doesn't have much time left to live."  
  
The younger elf broke down, succumbing the tears he had been trying to supress. He threw himself at the king, beating at him with his fists. Elrond stood there silently, just taking the abuse.  
  
Gimli's heartbeat began to slow, his breath coming in short gasps, his skin unnaturally pale. He opened his eyes, his smile twisted.  
  
The Mirkwood prince looked into his kind brown eyes. "Legolas, I do not fear death. I, like all of my kind, believe that I will one day be reborn. We will see each other again, may it be thousands of years in the future."  
  
"I don't want you to go." Even though the was several thousand years older than his companion, he still felt younger than his friend.  
  
"There comes a time for everything to leave this earth. Perhaps I will be reunited with the hobbits, and my parents."  
  
His breath was coming in rasps now, and his eyelids started to flutter. Lord Elrond left the room, knowing they needed some time alone.  
  
"Gimli..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I love you." It was said with the utmost sorrow and the utmost devotion, both balenced out in his soft grey eyes.  
  
Gimli smiled his last smile.  
  
"I know." His eyes closed and his face took on a mask of peace as his spirit left his body, and Legolas wept once again, leaving one chaste kiss on his love's forehead.  
  
It was known by all that Gimli and Legolas loved each other deeply, even more deeply than that of friendship. Through the decades they had managed to push the feelings away, for though they may be returned, it was impossible for two of such different species to love to their full extent, with the body and mind as well as the soul.  
  
Every elf had a soulmate somewhere, and would, when they found such a person, perform a bonding ceremony which would entertwine the two souls together, together in harmony. Tragically, if such a ceremony was undertaken between an elf and a dwarf, the dwarf would die, it's being not created in mind for such a procedure.  
  
The elf would be driven to insanity, and would eventually die of heartbreak.  
  
Legolas shed one last tear, smiling bitterly.  
  
"Goodbye, my love."  
  
He stood up and closed the door, the lantern extinguishing from the draft.  
  
The city clock chimed thirteen times.

* * *

Awwwwwwwww...Character death. I'm depressed now... I wrote this story a few months ago, and promptly forgot all about it 


End file.
